Notably in the same week that a Chinese ekranoplan design emerged, DARPA announced the cancellation of its Liberty Lifter ...

If you've been hoping for a long-range, low-cost, heavy-lift seaplane using Wing-In-Ground effect (WIG), you'll have to be ...

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has reportedly cancelled the “Liberty Lifter” heavy cargo seaplane ...

The secretive Pentagon research agency says the Liberty Lifter programme has proven the viability of building an amphibian ...

DARPA Ends Liberty Lifter Program is published in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, an Aviation Week Intelligence Network ...

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has ended a programme to build a large wing-in-ground (WIG) craft ...

DARPA has launched the Liberty Lifter project to demonstrate a leap in operational logistics capabilities by designing, building, and flying a long-range, low-cost X-plane capable of seaborne ...

The Liberty Lifter revives and upgrades the ekranoplan idea with a new twist: the ability to fly efficiently over both sea and land. Its single-hull flying boat design with high wings and a forked ...

DARPA’s new Liberty Lifter draws its name from the “Liberty Ships” of World War II, the cargo transports mass produced for use in the war and as merchant vessels afterwards.

The Liberty Lifter aims to take this concept further, operating for thousands of miles rather than just a few hundred feet. The physics of the ground effect is fascinating.

The first flight of the Liberty Lifter is planned for early 2028, the agency said. Share this story. Kimberly Johnson Related Stories. Thursday, July 3, 2025.

The Liberty Lifter program, named for the Liberty supply ships of World War II, would fulfill a similar mission by carrying troops, equipment and supplies to distant shores.